Hope had just got engaged to her partner Sean when she found out her cancer had returned - and this time spread to her lungs and lymph nodes, leaving doctor's in the UK with few options for treatment

Hope was first diagnosed with a rare form of soft tissue sarcoma in 2014. And after years of operations, chemo and radiotherapy, she went for a scan just before Christmas hoping to be told she was in remission.

But there was bad news, the 27-year-old's cancer was back for a third time - and it had spread to her lungs and lymph nodes.

"We went to NYC for a second opinion on Hope's condition, but we were told that because of Hope’s rare form of cancer, the best route would be to do what the doctors here are saying - to prolong her life with chemo," Hope's sister Nancy told The Sun.

"We found out that Hope not only has the rarest form of sarcoma, she also has the rarest strain of the rarest form.

"We’ve been told that we should just try the chemo they’re offering here but I’ve done some digging and found a place in Santa Monica that does this drug called Rexin G which is targeted towards Hope’s kind of sub-cancer and it’s been proven to work.

"The problem is that the company which manufactures it don't yet have the funds available to manufacture it."

Nancy says that Hope was "really emotional about it all" after receiving the heartbreaking news in New York.

"We felt that we came back with worse news than we went there with, but Hope's amazing.

"She's getting up, getting ready, being positive. She's doing well."

Hope was initially diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma back in 2014, which was attached to her skull.

Having only been offered yet more chemo in the UK, Hope wants to go back to the USA for this new drug

"She’s put her chemo on hold until the February 14 to buy us some time to potentially do something else.

The doctors have said that because the tumours haven't grown, we're fine to wait. But ultimately, their approach is just to keep her alive and do the chemo - despite the fact that they know chemo won’t work - so I’m not sure why we would put her through it.

"It takes a massive physical toll on people - I think we should be looking at alternative options like this rather than putting her through hell."

Since launching their fundraising campaign, the family have managed to raise well over £100,000 - but they fear it will be a drop in the ocean, with the new drug expected to be very expensive.

DEBORAH JAMES

VAL IS ALL SMILES

"Over Christmas, we had loads of donations come in which was really nice and we’ve got loads of people doing stuff - a lady we know is running the London Marathon for us, our little cousin is arranging a charity football day," said Nancy.

"But we really need to keep it going because really need the money now more than ever."

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